Authors, English -- 18th century -- Biography; Fielding, Henry, 1707-1754
Hogarth had last seen him. But long before he died, disease had greatly
altered his appearance; and he must have been little more than the
shadow of the handsome Harry Fielding, who wrote farces for Mrs. Clive,
and heard the chimes at midnight. As he himself says in the _Voyage to
Lisbon_, he had lost his teeth, and the consequent falling-in of the
lips is plainly perceptible in the profile. The shape of the Roman nose,
which Colonel James in _Amelia_ irreverently styled a "proboscis,"
would, however, remain unaltered, and it is still possible to divine a
curl, half humorous, half ironic, in the short upper lip. The eye,
apparently, was dark and deep-set. Oddly enough, the chin, to the length
of which he had himself referred in the _Champion_, does not appear
abnormal. [Footnote: In the bust of Fielding which Miss Margaret Thomas
has been commissioned by Mr. R. A. Kinglake to execute for the Somerset
Valhalla, the Shire-Hall at Taunton, these points have been carefully
considered; and the sculptor has succeeded in producing a work which,
while it suggests the mingling of humour and dignity that is Fielding's
chief characteristic, is also generally faithful to Hogarth's
indications. From these, indeed, it is impossible to deviate. Not only
is his portrait unique; but it was admitted to be like Fielding by
Fielding's friends. The bust was placed in the Shire Hall, 4th September
1883.]
Beyond the fact that he was above six feet in height, and, until the
gout had broken his constitution, unusually robust, Murphy adds nothing
further to our idea of his personal appearance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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